Jack Daniels sits in a bar. He drinks his namesake, and ponders how his life’s gone to waste.
He once had a marefriend, but she left him, and abandoned him. He loved that mare, but apparently the feelings were not reciprocated. He sat at a bench, a table for two if you will. Their favorite spot, now reduced to shattered dreams.
Right next to a window so that he could watch the beautiful sunset, but the sunset was no longer beautiful. The wonderful interplay of the oranges and reds only reminded him of what could’ve been. The red was pain, the orange was sorrow, and the blue was his hopes disappearing.
He absentmindedly takes another sip. He wonders what could’ve possibly went wrong. What had happened to the mare he loved.
He remembers a simpler time, back when his marefriend would get back from work, she’d say hello. He’d return the favor with a simple wave, having worked his share in construction. They would return from a day and just love each other. Not a word would be said, but everypony knew what everypony else was thinking. They said,”I love you,” without a sound. He remembers her.
A bartender comes by the table,”Jack Daniels,” he says, interrupting the stallion’s thoughts.”You do know that we’re about to close, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”
Jack Daniels nods. He knows this, but he doesn’t respond.
The bartender, catching onto his gist, leaves. Jack Daniels takes another sip. Nothing but silence under the light of the neon moon.
He puts the bottle aside, trying to remember his girl again.
The first time they had come to this bar was for their anniversary. Their first one, to be precise. She was his marefriend of many years, which made it all the more painful when she left.
His mare would tell the bartender what she wanted, as they had a small selection of foods, and he would point. There was no need for speaking when simple communication sufficed.
Then, his mare would chat up a storm. He would stay silent, communicating through the occasional smile, perhaps a gesture here or there. But most importantly, he’d listen.
His marefriend made everything so entertaining. He never got bored from listening to her. Then, together as they ate and drank, they’d watch the sunset through the window. The reds signifying their love, matched so perfectly together with the oranges and the blues. Complementary, opposites, yet together in perfect harmony. A testament to their everlasting beauty. Then, the two would sit, holding hooves under the table.
They’d watch the night, listening to the crickets’ symphony. They’d do nothing but chirp, but to him, that chirping was a song. A song about how much she loves him, a song about how he felt fine.
Together, they’d take the incentive to watch out the window. To see the light of the neon moon.
Jack Daniels smirks to himself. He remembers when that meant something to him. The sunset, the crickets. Now, the crickets sang a bittersweet symphony, one about a love lost to the point where he didn’t know her name.
Stroking his goatee, he gets up and walks over to the jukebox. Unfortunately, it only contains songs he shouldn’t have need for. She Loves You, Ring of Fire, the especially egregious Travelling Riverside Blues. Everywhere he went, it seems the world was only out to remind him of the love he lost.
Knowing this, he chooses Yesterday, but he doesn’t sing along. He doesn’t have the will nor the voice to. The record slides into place, and the bar is filled with the sounds and ideas of a lost love. About how things used to be so carefree.
He heads back. Normally, there were patrons here, but they’d all left. Just like how he felt, in the bar meant for lonely people, He is alone.
Alone with the light of the neon moon.
It shines on through the window, dimly lighting up the table. Jack Daniels retakes his seat, his bottle of namesake next to him, he takes it and another sip heads down.
He smiles, this particular memory was a good one.
All day, his mare would tease him. He never spoke, and she made sure he was reminded of that. She constantly teased him,”You can’t even sing any silly love songs?” she’d say, with a laugh that lit up the room instantly. No matter how down you were feeling, that laugh would always bring you back.
You could be having the worst day of your life, and that laugh would bring you back. Just seeing her laughing with her eyes as bright as the sun would be all you’d need.
Jack Daniels couldn’t laugh himself. It was nice to have a mare who could do it for you.
Unfortunately, not even the laugh could save him from that fateful day. That day when his mare was tired of it. He didn’t know why, as she’d never had a problem with it before, but one day, she just couldn’t take it.
He remembers that day clearly, his marefriend came up to him, and asked an armor piercing question.
“Do you truly love me?”
He was so startled, that he couldn’t even come up with a fitting gesture.
“Jack Daniels, do you love me? I’ve loved you since we met, but you haven’t said a word proving me any differently. I’ve suspected that you don’t love me, but if you can say anything, it’d make me feel ten times better,” his mare said, the words piercing his soul.
He opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out. He couldn’t bring himself to say any words of love.
“I figured as much. Until you speak up, I’m going.”
A tear fell from his eye, but his mare had already turned away. He was left to cry.
In the same way, Jack Daniels sits at the table that he and his girlfriend used to love, the tear coming back. He couldn’t say a word, not even if he tried. It had cost him his love. The love he loved the most.
Silently, He sits and cries while downing the rest of his namesake.
Until he could speak up, even say any word, he’d come to this bar looking for her. When he couldn’t find her, he’d take a seat where they used to sit and wait for her.
Under the light of a neon moon.
Author's Note
Inspired by Neon Moon by Brooks and Dunn.
This story is packed to the brim with musical references, but I chose to include them because they didn’t flow too badly.
A little melodramatic? Sure, but what Country isn’t? I’m super happy with how this story came out, and I’m so glad I was able to just write a story I loved. The song is fantastic, and I highly suggest you listen to it.
Inspirations: Fiddlesticks (author), FDR, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and of course, the song Neon Moon by Brooks and Dunn.
